Welcome to the website of the Lepidoptera section of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union...

We hope that this site will act as a central hub for information about moths in the county with links to other sites of interest. One of the main purposes of setting up the site is to make accurate distribution maps for each species available for the first time on-line. This has been possible through the use of MapMate® software and our ever-expanding database of records, currently with 1,871,232 records uploaded so far!

Feel free to browse the maps and photo galleries, and more information will be added to the species accounts over the coming months. By registering, and logging on, you get additional functionality in that you can upload photographs, and by clicking on dots on the maps, you get details of records. You can also set which vice-counties become your default, while still being able to browse other vice-counties. For information on how these accounts were reached, see background.

One huge bonus is the gallery of photos being assembled, and if you have any good quality photographs of adults, larvae or leaf mines of species not yet featured, please look at the guidelines on uploading pictures before attempting to do so.

Please let me know of any glaring errors, or if you have suggestions or comments, using the Contact us facility.

The Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union is one of the country’s oldest county natural history societies and was formed in 1861. It is an association of amateur and professional naturalists covering all aspects of natural history within the old county of Yorkshire (Watsonian vice-counties 61 to 65) and also acts as an “umbrella” organisation for other natural history societies within the county. It organises field meetings, training sessions and conferences and publishes three issues of The Naturalist every year plus an annual Bird Report.

We are an informal group of moth enthusiasts. There is no membership list or subscription fee and anyone interested in moths in the county is welcome to browse the site. We have an annual meeting in March at Bramham village hall with butterfly and moth reports for the previous year, current news, future events, a guest speaker, and a round-the-table discussion.